Thursday, September 15, 2011

Dreaming and Painting

I read a quote yesterday about how making art is the only way you can runaway with out actually running away. How true this is... how badly we want to run away sometimes. Even me.

I took one of my famous naps later on in the day yesterday. I slept for two solid hours. I was out so completely it felt like true rest. I was blissfully immersed in my dreams and they were as real as this is right now.

In one of my dreams there was an entire street's worth of old, dilapidated mansions. One after another after another after another and all so equally beautiful in there solemnity I felt my heart burst for joy. How could it be that I didn't know about these places before? They were so intricately detailed I couldn't believe my eyes. Gothic, Victorian, Orwellian. Tolkien with a hint of Poe. Amazing. I wanted to go to them and see them up close. I think a small part of me wanted to live among them all.

Today I want this dream to be my inspiration. I cannot run away--I would not run away--but I have a mind to explore. A memory palace. I want to run away backwards inside my imagination. Just for a little while. Just long enough to have a little fun. I need to explore.

So my predicament is when. Where? I know where--I have a studio (as you all know by now). When? is a big question. When is it okay to lock myself away from it all? How long is too long? When should I emerge again to rub shoulders with the outside world? How should I do it? Long enough to have a cup of coffee? The truth is I never want to leave. The imaginary world is so much more interesting sometimes.

I want to be lost for days in my work. I wonder what that would be like...